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lower tail-coverts bright gamboge, crossed near the tip by a band of bright red. Bill very narrow and fine ; yellowish 
grey in colour, bluish at the tip. Tarsi and toes dark grey; claws bluish horn-colour. 
Under this head may be placed the creamy-white Kaka with scarlet rump and abdomen, and a narrow nuchal 
collar of canary-yellow, which was shot in the Makereru ranges near Waipawa, and sent by Mr. J. Baker to the 
Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. 
Var. t], 
A specimen obtained by Mr. Henry Travers in the Provincial district of Marlborough is remarkably small, as 
compared with ordinary examples from the same locality, and is differently coloured. 
Crown of the head hoary grey; fringed behind the eyes and on the occiput with pale sea-green; ear-coverts 
golden yellow tinged with red ; mantle, scapulars, and wing-coverts dull olivaceous green, margined with black ; 
nuchal collar dull vinous red, with lighter tips ; neck above dark olivaceous brown ; cheeks, throat, front and sides 
of the neck dark brown, strongly tinged with red ; breast, sides, abdomen, and under tail-coverts of different shades 
of arterial red shaded with brown ; lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and thighs dark arterial red 
banded with lighter red, and tipped with black ; lining of wings and axillary plumes beautiful scarlet, transversely 
barred with dusky black. Quills and tail-feathers olivaceous brown, with paler edges, toothed on their inner webs 
with pale orange-red. 
Var. 6. “ Kaka-kereru ” of the natives. 
The following description is taken from a specimen in my collection, which was obtained in the vicinity of 
Wellington, in 1856 : — 
Upper parts generally tinged with oil-green, and each feather narrowly margined with black; crown light 
grey, with darker shades, varied with deep sea-green over the eyes and on the hinder part of the head; nape sea- 
green, mixed with brown and yellow ; nuchal collar, which is nearly two inches broad, dark crimson, each feather 
faintly margined with yellow and black. Upper wing-coverts and upper portion of the tail-feathers tinged with 
olivaceous. The ear-coverts are orpiment-orange varying in shade ; while the cheeks and throat are dark vinous 
red, each feather having a bright centre ; feathers of the neck and breast dark brown, with a marginal tinge of 
crimson ; rump, upper and lower tail-coverts, thighs, and abdomen deep crimson, with lighter crescentic bands and 
narrow terminal margins of black. This bird was shot with a flock of twelve others (all bagged), and was the only 
one presenting this character of plumage. 
In another example, obtained at Otaki in September 1862, all the tints of the plumage are very rich, and the 
red of the underparts extends to the breast, each feather having two bright crescentic bands of arterial red and a 
terminal margin of dusky black ; the ear-coverts are gallstone-yellow, and the nuchal collar, which is much extended, 
is of the same colour intermixed with red ; the secondaries and lesser wing-coverts are pale metallic green, narrowly 
edged with black ; and the whole of the dark upper plumage is tinged with the same colour. 
Var. i. 
In June, 1870, I received from Manawatu a very beautiful specimen of the variety known among the natives 
as “ Kaka-pipiwarauroa.” The whole of the plumage was most handsomely variegated, each feather having a 
brownish-black centre, and the margins broadly edged with orange-red and yellow. These bright markings were 
most conspicuous on the nape and upper surface of the wings. The sides of the face and the ear-coverts were of a 
bright golden yellow, changing to red on the long feathers overlapping the lower mandible ; the sides, thighs, and 
lower part of the abdomen arterial red, with lighter bands ; the lining of the wings brilliant scarlet, banded with 
yellow and black. The natives had this beautiful bird in tlicir possession for many months; and the delighted 
settler who wrote apprising me of it described it as “ a bird with all the colours of the rainbow.” I ultimately 
induced the owner to part with it, giving him in return a block of the much-prized greenstone, weighing more than 
20 lb. I designed this rara avis for the Zoological Society of London, and shipped it accordingly with every care; 
but it appeared to suffer from the extreme cold, and, unfortunately, perished before it was out of sight of the New- 
Zealand coast. 
Yar. k. 
In the Otago Museum there is a remarkable specimen, obtained in the south, in August 18/4, and presented 
by Mr. J. Coulan. This bird (which is a male) has the plumage of the upper parts smoky yellowish brown, and, 
except on the crown, each feather has a dusky margin ; the feathers of the crown, wings, and tail pale yellowish 
